Thursday, 5 January 2012

Happy New Year 2012!

New year and new beginnings, here's a round up of what's happening so far!

I am currently working on a portrait commission for glamourpuss, and sometime fetish model, Fiona. This is a very striking picture and will ooze sex kitten when it is finished. Here's where I was up to just before Christmas;

The thing I love about this picture is the masses of luxurious red hair. It is only blocked in here but you can get an idea of how shiny and vibrant it will look when the painting is finished. The skin only has it's first layer on in this photo. I build up skin tones in layers in order to capture the many colours that the skin holds which helps to give it depth and the illusion of softness.

I've continued with my experiments in embroidery and I'm working on a shoe design inspired by louboutin at the moment;

I found the original image in a magazine where the shoe was covered in crystals (embellishment is big right now!). I've tried to recreate the lushious surface by covering my shoe in a mixture of beads and french knots in different gold threads. The finished piece will show the shoe suspended from a glossy ribbon tied into a bow... nearly finished.

I'm planning a gallery excursion later this month; For Christmas I recieved a brilliant book called Lizzie Siddal: The Tragedy of a Pre-Raphaelite Supermodel. It's a super read if you're interested in the PRB and the sexual chemistry shared by a number of it's members. All this Victorian drama and sizzle has got me hankering to see the real deal so I'm hoping to take a trip to some art galleries over January and see some of the Pre-Raphaelite masterpieces. My first thoughts are The Lady Lever Art Gallery and the Walker Art Gallery, both located in Merseyside and both home to a wonderful collection of original work by the likes of Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Holman Hunt to name but a few.I need to do some further research but I hope to take my trip soon!

Image by Rachel Ortas

Finally some art news from Manchester; Cornerhouse is hosting a new six week course on comtemporary visual art, Beyond the Counterculture. If you like your art a little bit seedy, leftfield, kitsch and kooky then this course is for you! Hosted by the publishers of Nude Magazine the course explores subcultures, youth movements and pop culture. Apparently some of the visuals used may be offensive to some, so what better reason to sign up! Find out more and how to join HERE